[PF] My summoner's balancing act - Please help!

[upho]

My group has recently started our first PF campaign, a heavily modified version of Kingmaker played in the same setting as our previous 4e campaign (standard D&D style). We decided on trying to keep our PC builds in, or close to, "quite highly optimized tier 3" to avoid the more disrupting balance issues we've unfortunately experienced in our previous 3.x campaigns. As I wanted to try out one of the new and shiny PF classes and the party needed an arcane caster, the summoner seemed like the most appropriate (or "the least inappropriate") class, even though I knew I would have to keep tight reins on the build and be careful not to hog both the spotlight and the combat play time.

Besides my human vanilla summoner (see next spoiler section), the party consists of:

goliath crusader of Melora (10 RP homebrew race, ToB conversion) - very durable sword'n'board TWF defender, a big, friendly and naive runaway from his tribe
human inquisitor of Eratis - sort of switch-hitter and divine caster, the self-entitled party leader with a very firm grasp on what's right and what's wrong
oni-spawn ranger/barb (with limited WS (sort of 3.5 UA conversion) for increased OoC utility) - natural attack monster striker and scout, a dirty, ugly and loud hillbilly totally adapted to his alcoholism (= Good For What Ails You + Bottom's Up + Prehensile Tail + Craft (Alchemy)...) :smalltongue:

We're now about to reach level 6, and things are starting to work out pretty well in terms of party-balance. The front loaded ranger/barb was a bit too much DPR-Overkill and my summoner sometimes felt like an action economy cheesecake during the first levels, driving up the CR to dangerous levels, but at least the crusader isn't far behind now. The inquisitor player seems to be a bit undecided on his build which, while not weak, has been a bit like a jack-of-all-trades lacking focus, but this will likely change soon.

My problem is that my build has somewhat conflicting objectives, making it hard for me to keep the build's spotlight-hogging mechanics to a minimum while maximizing his usefulness as the party's primary buffer and sole arcane caster. For the summoner himself, I guess the problem is mainly a lack of flexibility and utility, which basically boils down to a limited spell list combined with a rather low-wealth, no magic-mart campaign. Any advice on how to advance the build to increase his usefulness to his party, especially OoC, would be greatly appreciated.

Barim Quarnius
CG Human Summoner Level 6

Str 7, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 8, Cha 21

37 HP
AC 16, Fort 3, Ref 4, Will 4, CMD 15
Initiative 8 (+2 from trait)

Spells
1 Grease, Enlarge Person, Shield, Unseen Servant
2 Evolution Surge (Lesser), Glitterdust, Haste, Invisibility

Feats
Human Improved Initiative
Lvl 1 Spell Focus Conjuration
Lvl 3 Extra Evolution
Lvl 5 Craft Wondrous Item
Lvl 7 Leadership? (this was listed by the DM as "Very important")
Lvl 9 ???
Lvl 11 ???

Skills
Arcana 9, Diplomacy 12 (class skill, trait), Nobility 5, Engineering 5, History 5, Planes 6, Prof. (Baker) 5, Use M. Device 11, Spellcraft 10, Bluff 9

Notable Equipment
MW Light X-Bow, Cloak of Resistance +1, Wand of Lesser Rejuvenate Eidolon, Wand of Mage Armor, some scrolls of mostly low level spells

Barim doesn't really fight in combat, preferring to stay invisible or otherwise out of harm's way and buff his allies, his most offensive move usually consisting of casting Grease. OoC he's often the party face, his background and charm making him at ease socializing in most kinds of formal and informal situations.

And finally, my real headache: the damn eidolon. He was planned to become a reach-grab-swallow kind of anti-caster/AoO specialist, as this combat focus seemed relatively cheap and left lots of EPs to fool around with for more or less useless but flavorful evos. But the weirdness of the grapple and, especially, the swallow whole rules seems to make this a risky and often useless tactic. The only way I've found to make it work is by getting the Hog-tie feat, but that instead seems to make the eidolon totally OP in a few levels (it will effectively be able to easily take any large or smaller opponent out of the fight in one turn and doesn't even need to wait for swallow whole or huge size). Or have I missed something in the rules?

So, I would like your advice on what cheap (in terms of EPs/feats) ways there are to keep my eidolon useful in combat with this party, without being OP and without focusing on damage (preferably some kind of melee control).

Thanks!

[Andvare]

That Damned Eidolon can only swallow others at level 9. I'd suggest a trip on it's bite until then.
(It's also far easier to boost damage on an Eidolon, than manoeuvres)
I'm guessing that you have read the Handbook? (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=184592) It isn't up to date, but still very useful.
Multiple heads are a possibility. The Grap evolution applies to an attack type, though the reach only applies to one attack. Talk to your GM beforehand about this, and if you can have more than one creature swallowed. A large creature with 15ft' reach and free grab attempts is a good crowd controller.
Boosting your strength probably goes without saying, but I'm going to anyway. Boost your strength (the eidolon's that is). Size increases is better than strength boosts though, as you can target more, and get a substantial strength increase.

Are you dead-set on human? Otherwise, Half-elf is a perfect mate for the Summoner class, and their Wild Caller archetype is nifty as well. Not only do you get access to more evolution points, but you can get access to a couple of wizard spells cheaply via Eldritch Heritage (and an arcane bond too boot, which is always nice. Familiar recommended).

And how dead-set are you on Swallow Whole? Because with that team, I'd go for a hydra-tripper. Heaps O' heads with trip, and pounce just to attack all enemies with a charge. Tripping five enemies in one go is fun, and absolutely murder when your team is so melee heavy.

(Warning, I am currently feverish, so any advise should be taken with a grain of salt)

[upho]

That Damned Eidolon can only swallow others at level 9. I'd suggest a trip on it's bite until then.Yeah, tripping and grabbing with it's reach bite attack is exactly what the eidolon does at the moment. I should've listed a few more details about the current build, sorry about that. Regarding the swallow, even though it cannot be gained before level 9, the feats needs to be rather carefully planned.

But the more important thing is I'm quite certain swallow is a trap that most often only will result in the eidolon loosing both HP and the ability (at least in my group). I mean, how many enemies lack natural weapons like claws or bite as well as any kind of light slashing weapon? As long as they have a simple knife on their person, even a lousy melee combatant (such as an enemy wizard) will have an easy time hitting the eidolon from the inside and dealing enough damage to cut itself free. And unless the creature was down to its last HPs when swallowed, it will be free well before it has been killed by the pathetic damage it sustains from being swallowed. Creatures with less lousy melee skills are highly likely to cut themselves free on their first turn. So swallow typically messes up one enemy's turn per encounter. Not very impressive, IMO.

As mentioned, the only better alternative I've found was the Hogtie equipment trick feat, but that seems OP instead, sort of:
Me: So the dragon is huge, right?
DM: Yep.
Me: And within 20 ft of my enlarged and thus equally huge eidolon, I see... Ok, the eidolon bites and grabs the dragon with a +8 bonus to the CMB check, then Greater Grapple Hogties it with the same bonus.
DM: Uhh... Well, the dragon... Nevermind, the fight's over.

I was hoping there were some middle ground.


(It's also far easier to boost damage on an Eidolon, than manoeuvres)Yeah, eidolons are almost as restricted to damage as the non-caster classes. Sucks. But at least it seems the eidolon has the potential for being good in combat without having to join the already over-crowded DPR-fest. I really hope this is the case, because a damage focused eidolon is a non-option in this party.


I'm guessing that you have read the Handbook? (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=184592) It isn't up to date, but still very useful.Yep, read it. And I also think it's good, but it desperately needs to be updated (and some example eidolon builds would do well to be re-evaluated with a more critical eye).


Multiple heads are a possibility. The Grap evolution applies to an attack type, though the reach only applies to one attack. Talk to your GM beforehand about this, and if you can have more than one creature swallowed. A large creature with 15ft' reach and free grab attempts is a good crowd controller.Well, I think multiple grabbing heads could be great regardless of swallow, but it seems a bit costly at 4 EP per head. Perhaps multiple pincers? They're secondary, but they make the grapple bonus even more insane and they're on sale for 3 EP each (only available 2-pack though)...


Are you dead-set on human? Otherwise, Half-elf is a perfect mate for the Summoner class, and their Wild Caller archetype is nifty as well. Not only do you get access to more evolution points, but you can get access to a couple of wizard spells cheaply via Eldritch Heritage (and an arcane bond too boot, which is always nice. Familiar recommended).The half-elf is great for making the "best" summoner, but:

I specifically do not want the "best" summoner, I want the build most optimized for usefulness and balance in our tier 3 party
We've already played through five levels, so it's a bit late to change races...

I've thought about Eldritch Heritage for some added flexibility and a second cuddly friend, you think it might be worth it despite the skill focus prereq?


And how dead-set are you on Swallow Whole? Because with that team, I'd go for a hydra-tripper. Heaps O' heads with trip, and pounce just to attack all enemies with a charge. Tripping five enemies in one go is fun, and absolutely murder when your team is so melee heavy.Definitely not set on swallow, see above. Hydra-tripper seems interesting (though no pounce - biped). How do you boost the trip checks without access to Combat Expertise?


(Warning, I am currently feverish, so any advise should be taken with a grain of salt)Now that's what I call standing up for your fellow player - in sickness and in health! :smallbiggrin: Thanks!

[upho]

Shameless bump!
:smallbiggrin: